About Me

I am a Christian, husband, son, brother, uncle, dog owner, armchair theologian, music teacher, recovering Baptist, and a church musician. I'm married to a wonderful, beautiful and unique woman. My dog's name is Ellie and she's very cute. And I love baseball.
I am also learning all over again to love life, seek truth, reflect the Creator.
Thank you for reading. I always welcome your comments and discussion.

Friday, October 12, 2012

There were some positive things about this book. It was well-written and not too wordy or lengthy. I also appreciated very much the example that it sets for us. In a culture and time where all things must be current, hip, stylish, we should always be returning to the older generation for the wisdom and experience they have to offer us.

I have the feeling, though, that these stories were a little bit polished. They all seemed a little too articulate and glossed over. I think this sort of book needs to have some stories that have a little more personality, more character to it. This left me a bit unsatisfied.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

This book is useless. Let me get that out of the way at the beginning. It's completely not worth reading.

Before
I explain what's wrong with this book, you have to know what's wrong
with this author. Richard G. Lee is a particular kind of conservative
Christian; he believes that the United States of America is an
exceptional entity that has been led with a light from above since the
beginning. He's the guy behind the American Patriot's Bible, which is a
horrific publication that dilutes the Bible with American nationalistic
drivel. The combination is nothing short of blasphemy.

The Coming
Revolution is a similarly problematic work that suggests that, since
the United States has supposedly always championed a Judeo-Christian
ethic, that if we all gang up together and take some sort of stand, we
can return this alleged ethic to the forefront of our society.

This
work and this author are completely wrong. The United States has never,
at any point in its history, looked like Christ. What about some of the
other parts of our past? How about the way we got rich off of slavery?
What about manifest destiny? Remember the revolutionary war where we
killed lots of image-bearers over unfair taxes? (Maybe Christians should
organize an army and attack Washington.) What about all the people who
have had to die for our ideals? We've done some horrible things in the
name of Christ.

The USA was not a decidedly "Christian" nation in
its founding and was Christians need to remember which kingdom they
serve and be about God's business along the way, not through legislation
and political activism, but through living and loving in the image of
Christ. I don't particularly want a return to manifest destiny, slavery,
and bloodshed.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Though my rating is 1-star, there is something I like about this
premise. Families do need their fathers. The epidemic of abandonment by
fathers, those who leave completely or are withdrawn, is killing our
children, sons and daughters. It's causing women to be over-taxed,
over-burdened, and over-functioning.

Unfortunately, the
patriarchal base of this author overshadows any upside of the book, and
is its greatest flaw. Wilson needs to actually be calling men out of
tyranny into a relationship of mutual love and submission with their
wives and a male example free of uneasy male dignity and "machoness."

Wilson instead reaffirms tired old patriarchal gender roles and calls men to "man up" and be all the traditional manly things.

Additionally,
he repeatedly asserts that Christian egalitarians are uncomfortable
with gender distinctions, which is completely untrue. Egalitarians
support men and women using the gifts they have been given as
individuals in the family and society. For that reason, husbands and
wives are to submit to one another in accordance with Ephesians 5.
Children will benefit from this as they will have an example of how
renewed and redeemed creation interacts. They will see that the
patriarchy that is still pervasive in culture doesn't fly in God's new
creation.

Children that grow up in that sort of household will undoubtedly become much more well-adjusted adults.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Redemption is a good read, especially if you are one who likes to read biographies of athletes or who enjoys a good story of redemption.

First, there is lots of insight into what it takes to train for these sorts of things. The day-in-day-out work and character that is required for athletic training is truly inspiring.

Second, and more pertinently, it is a great story about a passionate individual who, despite all his best attempts, found his way into the fold of Christ and full acceptance of faith in the living God. It's a story that parallels the biblical story of a Creator/Redeemer God who is redeeming the cosmos. This, of course, is probably accidental considering the source, but it's intriguing and inspiring nonetheless for the discerning and theologically minded reader.

There were parts that felt a bit contrived, but it is an effective testimony of the relentless pursuit of the Creator. It's certainly worth your time.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

I always fine Leonard Sweet to be a refreshing read. This book does not disappoint. Sweet writes in a way that is crisp, fresh and largely free from meaningless cliche and trite sentimentality.

One of the most frustrating things about contemporary Christian culture is its emphasis on leadership that takes its cues from the world's economy. God's economy is so different, and to us, it's countercultural and counterintuitive. Sweet emphasizes God's call to follow - to be followers of Christ, which is really the only way of being a leader in the scope of Christ's Kingdom.

My favorite things about this book is that Sweet proves a comfort with tension. There is an innate tension in the Christian life. We die to live. We become little to become big. We became least to become greatest. This message is vitally important, and because it's not preached with regularity, Christians are walking around in a parched, dehydrated state. Sweet's book is badly needed and preaches the remedy for this predicament.